Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2015 Unibet Open Cannes
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2015 Unibet Open Cannes
Buy-in
€1,000
Prize Pool
€394,560
Entries
411
Level
27
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
0
Julien Sitbon Leads After Day 1a of the 2015 Unibet Open Cannes
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
The first of two starting days for the Unibet Open Cannes €1,100 Main Event at Casino Barriere attracted a field of 182 entrants. Ten 60-minute levels later, only 59 hopefuls bagged up chips for Saturday's Day 2.
In the lead was Julien Sitbon with a massive 354,300 in chips, followed by Matyas Csiszar and Christer Nagell with 271,200 and 211,200, respectively. Sitbon and Nagell shared the same table in the last half an hour of play and were involved in a big three-way hand to the river that saw the Frenchman turn the nut straight and get paid off. Nagell himself was down to 5,000 in chips after the first two levels, but then won a flip with ace-jack against pocket nines thanks to an ace on the river in order to stage a big comeback.
This was the third time the Unibet Open was visiting the French Riviera. Most recently, Daniel Smith defeated a 457-entry strong field in 2014 for a payday of €88,000.
Notables that advanced to Day 2 include Joachim Kleiven (163,100), UnibetPoker.fr Team Pro Quentin Lecomte (144,600), Robert Giordano (119,400), Peter Eichhardt (109,500), Peter Harkes (103,600), Pierre Antona (100,100), Mateusz Moolhuizen (83,300), and Gilbert Diaz (75,400).
Others were less fortunate. World Series of Poker gold bracelet winners Marc Naalden and Antonin Teisseire fell early on, while other notables such as Jean-Paul Pasqualini, 2014 Cannes finalists Giuseppe Zarbo and Krzysztof Stuchlik, Unibet Poker ambassador Pierre Menes, Jonathan Rozema, Paul Testud, Damian Porebski, and 2013 Unibet Open Troia champion Dmitry Varlamov all failed to bag up chips.
For all those eliminated, further side events such as the €2,200 High Roller are still available, while those yet to take their shot can do so on the second starting day at 13:00 local time on Friday. The PokerNews Live Reporting team will be there when another champion is crowned, but until then have a good night and we'll see everyone tomorrow.
End-of-Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
354,300 | |
|
271,200 | -3,800 |
|
211,200 | -100 |
|
177,000 | 42,000 |
|
174,500 | |
|
164,000 | |
|
163,100 | 38,100 |
|
144,600 | |
|
143,000 | |
|
139,100 | |
|
|
136,900 | 113,900 |
|
|
120,100 | |
|
119,400 | |
|
|
112,200 | |
|
111,000 | 28,000 |
|
109,500 | |
|
109,100 | |
|
|
106,500 | |
|
103,700 | |
|
103,600 | -56,400 |
|
|
102,800 | |
|
100,100 | -9,900 |
|
99,000 | -11,400 |
|
|
93,900 | |
|
92,100 |
Partial End-of-Day Chip Counts
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
The full chip counts will be available within the hour, Julien Sitbon is most definitely the chip leader after Day 1a.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
354,300 | 34,300 |
|
|
211,300 | 31,300 |
|
|
164,000 | -16,000 |
|
|
144,600 | -400 |
|
|
143,000 | 53,000 |
|
|
109,500 | 19,500 |
|
87,300 | 2,300 |
|
83,300 | -7,700 |
Three Last Hands
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
With about five minutes left in the last level, tournament director John Scanlon has stopped the clock and announced to the players and dealers that three more hands will be played before bagging and tagging.
Jarvinen Cracks Kings
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Jan Czajkowski had opened from early position and was called by table neighbor Tapio Jarvinen to fire a continuation bet on the 
flop. On the 
turn they got it in with Czajkowski's 
putting the Finn at risk. Jarvinen however had flopped two pair with the 
and stayed ahead after the 
river as well.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
85,000 | 85,000 |
|
|
25,000 | -35,000 |
Csiszar Losing Some
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Joining the action on the 
flop, Matyas Csiszar called a bet worth 8,500 by Benjamin Vestergaard and did the same again on the 
from his button position. This time it was 13,600 to go and again Csiszar tossed in the chips before surrendering to a third barrel worth 16,000 after the 
river.
The Hungarian is still on a big stack but not in first position anymore.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
275,000 | -35,000 |
Sitbon Takes Huge Pot
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Vladimir Kovalev opened the action with a raise from the button and both Christer Nagell and Julien Sitbon called out of the blinds. On the 
flop all three players checked and Sitbon then raised Nagell's bet of 7,000 to 22,000 when the 
turn fell.
Kovalev and Nagell both called to set up a juicy pot and the Frenchman then fired the 
river for 80,000. Only Kovalev called and mucked when he was shown the 
. The Russian three-bet shoved his short stack of less than 10 big blinds one hand later and chopped with versus ... .
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
320,000 | 110,000 |
|
|
180,000 | -35,000 |
|
|
25,000 | 25,000 |
Down to 63 Players
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
The last two players to hit the rail were among the notables to look out for, however there won't be any more updates with regards to Emil Hegedus and Guillaume Bacri. Both have been swept off all their chips and won't be bagging for Day 2.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Weiss and Nagell Loaded
Level 10
: 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Christer Nagell extracted 16,000 chips from an opponent on the river of a king-high board with 
after having turned two pair and the other player made the call only to muck his king-queen. At the very same table, Fred Weiss soon after busted an opponent with a straight and became the second largest stack of table three. Will there be a big clash between the two in the remaining half an hour still?
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
215,000 | 10,000 |
|
|
180,000 | 80,000 |